Urinary Tract Infections in Adults
A urinary tract infection, or UTI, is when bacteria gets into your urinary tract- kidneys, bladder, or urethra. UTIs cause more than 8.1 million visits to health care providers each year. About 60% of women and 12% of men will have at least one UTI during their lifetime.
Archived from the 2024 edition
Overview
The role of the urinary tract is to make and store urine. Urine is one of the waste products of your body. Urine is made in the kidneys and travels down the ureters to the bladder. The bladder stores the urine until it is emptied by urinating through the urethra, a tube that connects the bladder to the skin. The opening of the urethra is at the end of the penis in a male and above the vaginal opening in a female.
The kidneys are a pair of fist-sized organs in the back that filter liquid waste from the blood and remove it from the body in the form of urine. Kidneys balance the levels of many chemicals in the body (sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorous and others) and check the blood's acidity. Certain hormones are also made in the kidneys. These hormones help control blood pressure, boost red blood cell production and help make strong bones.
In this entry
The archived page carried these sections, in this order.
- How Does the Urinary Tract Work?
- Symptoms
- Causes
- Body Factors
- Birth Control
- Abnormal Anatomy
- Immune System
- Can UTIs be Prevented?
- Diagnosis
- Treatment